RE: [gardeners] Re: compost,Emus

Murray, Raelene (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 27 Apr 1999 09:29:02 +1000 

Another emu fan - shucks, kinda glad I am not alone.  My family has an emu
farm (about 1800 birds at the moment).  And emu steaks are just my favorite
meat.  Mind you emu hamburger and emu sausages aren't bad either!

Rae

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Allen and Judy Merten [SMTP:jbmerten@swbell.net]
	Sent:	Sunday, 25 April 1999 1:48 PM
	To:	gardeners@globalgarden.com
	Subject:	Re: [gardeners] Re: compost,Emus

	Hi Penny,
	    We were given 18 Emus by a person that thought they were going
to get
	rich raising and selling Emus. The market never developed. However
pairs of
	Emus went for as much as $35,000, more commonly a pair went for
$15,000. Emu
	eggs were sold for as much as several hundred dollars each.
	    We have been raising them like livestock and we now have 8 left.
	Actually there are 11 left but 3 escaped. It is very difficult to
recapture
	an escaped Emu in a large pasture. It can run 30 mph and turn on a
dime,
	leaving 9 cents change. Emus are quite formidable (125 lbs.) at
close
	quarters and can do severe damage by kicking, breaking bones or
inflicting
	severe lacerations. Just about the only way to recover the 3 that
escaped is
	to shoot them when the meat is needed. The smallest pasture in which
one of
	the Emus is now residing is 30 acres. We attempted to recapture it
using 4
	people on foot and one one a dirt bike. The Emu evaded all attempts
to
	recapture it.
	    Roping Emus is pretty damaging to them. If you rope one around
the neck
	it fights the rope until nearly sufficated and passes out. Usually
they
	recover. Roping one around the legs, a hard scaly area like a
chickens leg,
	doesn't work because the rope slides right off the legs.
	    They are easily handled in a smaller area like a pen or corral
because
	you can grab their wings and then walk them to their destination.
This
	requires two, calm, levelhead people. Their wings are about the size
of a
	chickens wing. They do not like to enter a trailer with a roof on
it.
	    We are going to keep a pair. They will have free movement on our
four
	acres and hopefully nest and raise young birds. Their eggs are such
a bright
	green that they do not look like a "natural" bird egg, more like an
Easter
	egg. A friend of ours was given 6 Emus and has 4 left. The one hen
laid eggs
	in three nests and the 3 males incubate the eggs and protect the
young. The
	hen is through with the whole deal after she lays the eggs. This is
one bird
	species that is female dominated. The female Emus have to be keep
seperate
	from other females when they reach maturity or the "alpha" female
will kill
	the other females. My friends hen laid 15 eggs and the 3 males
hatched 14
	eggs. They take good care of the chicks.
	    The Emu manure we come by in the course of feeding the birds.
The meat
	of the Emu is a good substitute for beef. It is red meat, like
sirloin, not
	at all like poultry. It has a wonderful taste and texture. You can
use it in
	the place of beef and not wish you were eating something else
instead. The
	Emu liver is better than beef liver, milder tasting, and more
tender.
	    Allen
	    Bastrop Co.
	    SE Central Tx.
	penny x stamm wrote:

	> Allen, I thought you were kidding us when you said you had
	> emu (steaks?) for dinner a few days ago...  Now you have emu
	> manure..  I must have missed something along the way.....
	>
	> How come?
	>
	> Penny, NY
	>
	>
___________________________________________________________________
	> You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
	> Get completely free e-mail from Juno at
http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
	> or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]